WOW!....I have a 1.4TC MKIII....for my 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II...I say WOW because...I have been saving for the new Zeiss 15mm f/2.8 ZE...and then..I got to thinking I could buy a Canon 17mm TSE, save $700-$800, have the tilt and shift, comparable image quality (right?) and the 1.4x set up would just be a bonus. (I never thought a 'tele' converter would work well on a SWlens.hmmmmm....I will have to think about this more....DAMN!!!! LOL!

I have never used the Zeiss 15mm, but I regularly print 3 foot panoramas from a single shot from the 17mm TS-E and the IQ is as good as your technique. Of course the Canon lens does offer vastly more functionality than the Zeiss, not least of which is the shift stitching option which ends up giving you an 11mm lens fov on a 50mm x 24mm sensor, or the ability to use your 5D MkIII as a medium format equaling 44MP 36mm x 48mm sensor.

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Too often we lose sight of the fact that photography is about capturing light, if we have the ability to take control of that light then we grow exponentially as photographers. More often than not the image is not about lens speed, sensor size, DR, MP's or AF, it is about the light.

WOW!....I have a 1.4TC MKIII....for my 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II...I say WOW because...I have been saving for the new Zeiss 15mm f/2.8 ZE...and then..I got to thinking I could buy a Canon 17mm TSE, save $700-$800, have the tilt and shift, comparable image quality (right?) and the 1.4x set up would just be a bonus. (I never thought a 'tele' converter would work well on a SWlens.hmmmmm....I will have to think about this more....DAMN!!!! LOL!

I have never used the Zeiss 15mm, but I regularly print 3 foot panoramas from a single shot from the 17mm TS-E and the IQ is as good as your technique. Of course the Canon lens does offer vastly more functionality than the Zeiss, not least of which is the shift stitching option which ends up giving you an 11mm lens fov on a 50mm x 24mm sensor, or the ability to use your 5D MkIII as a medium format equaling 44MP 36mm x 48mm sensor.

Yes...I am aware of that...when I started to compare the Zeiss to the 17mm I came across the 11mm "bonus".How well does that crazy front element hold up???

I am not particularly careful with my gear, but I do put the lens cap on the 17 TS-E much more often than my other lenses. Having said that I often don't cover it, it has proven as robust as any other element, it has had several good cleans with my own mix of lens cleaner and all marks and blemishes have come off with no marks to the coatings. If I was going to use it as a true walk around lens I'd get a second lens cap and cut the top off to make a custom hood, this won't vignette if you don't shift, if you do shift you have the time to take the "hood" off.

The other really nice thing about lenses like this is despite the high purchase price the depreciation is very low. This means you can get one and use it for a few months and if you really don't like it sell it, this ends up costing surprisingly little money.

Logged

Too often we lose sight of the fact that photography is about capturing light, if we have the ability to take control of that light then we grow exponentially as photographers. More often than not the image is not about lens speed, sensor size, DR, MP's or AF, it is about the light.

I am not particularly careful with my gear, but I do put the lens cap on the 17 TS-E much more often than my other lenses. Having said that I often don't cover it, it has proven as robust as any other element, it has had several good cleans with my own mix of lens cleaner and all marks and blemishes have come off with no marks to the coatings. If I was going to use it as a true walk around lens I'd get a second lens cap and cut the top off to make a custom hood, this won't vignette if you don't shift, if you do shift you have the time to take the "hood" off.

The other really nice thing about lenses like this is despite the high purchase price the depreciation is very low. This means you can get one and use it for a few months and if you really don't like it sell it, this ends up costing surprisingly little money.

PBD.. Thanks for all the inteligent input...I have time before I make my purchase and I an going to weigh all of this info before I make my decision....the TSE is an impressive and useful piece of glass!

If I was going to use it as a true walk around lens I'd get a second lens cap and cut the top off to make a custom hood, this won't vignette if you don't shift, if you do shift you have the time to take the "hood" off.

Using the bottom of the lens cap converted to a Lee filter holder does cut down on flare when you just use it as a hood (as I do), although it doesn't really offer very much lens protection. You can shift about 7mm on the short axis and about 5mm on the long axis before you run into vignetting, and tilting doesn't cause any vignetting from the hood.

This is an amazingly versatile lens despite the wide field of view due to the almost complete lack of distortion.

As mentioned it is not quite as sharp as the 24 but from an owner of the 17 who is also a pixel peaper, I can tell you this lenses will satisfy most anyone's need for sharpness, especially in terms of corner performance.

I also love that I can get really close to my subject if desire / required. Great for indoor work and if you really want the 24mm just add the TC for only a marginal IQ penalty. But I can promise you will love the 17mm FOV!

Oh, and BTW, As you will see from the sample below you can definitly use ND / CPL / Grads on this lens. Fotodiox makes a great filter system I have been using for a few months now that allows for both Screw on filters, ie CPL / ND, and Grads. It's called the Wonderpana and it is built like a tank. Very high quality materials and it is made specifically for the 17 TS-E. I actually never take it off the lens, as it also protects the front element.

3208: Less obvious usecase (in my opinion), shifted downwards to have more water and thus reflection in the picture while maintaining vertical lines.

All pictures were taken with camera handheld. Shifting is not so much of a problem handheld, the electronic gauge helps altough you can also control the parallel lines quite well trough the viewfinder.